WHAT TRUMPS WHAT? LOVE, MERCY, JUSTICE, DOCTRINE? WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THIS?

Last week I received an email from a friend of more than 40 years, who was terribly upset with me regarding my memorial (below) to the Pope, upon his death. Here is what my friend - or ex-friend now as he probably is - said:

dear Joe

since when does a pope who claims to be infallible and allows millions to worship and idolize him, taking glory that belongs only to God almighty qualify as being a "dear Christian brother"?

He goes on:

You would do well to study up on Roman Catholic theology over which this idol presides. we are not to pray to saints, or to Mary. neither do we confess our sins to some man, nor call any man on this earth our spiritual father. Celibacy in the clergy is unscriptural and has fostered a terrible blight on the church and ministry through sexual abuse of children and acts of homosexuality. I'm not interested in debating this subject, the history of the catholic church reveals their antichristian beliefs and actions. They have shed the blood of many of God's martyrs. please don't send me any more emails about your friend the pope.

XXXXXXXX (Name withheld)

I sent him an answer that was a bit long for reproduction here, but here are some of the things that I said in response:

XXXX, you're right; those things you mentioned along with many others are things that I totally disagree with Catholics about, in fact there are a lot of things that the Roman Catholics believe that are unbiblical and I always take every opportunity to apprise them of that. My thoughts about the pope are that the man himself, Karol Wojtyla, was a man of prayer, great faith, and moral strength. The man did express many times the point of saving faith in Jesus alone, and he stood up to everyone from the Nazis to the communists, to American failures like abortion, the homosexual agenda, and this awful "death culture" that we seem to have adopted in the US. I don't know if I could have exhibited such spiritual strength.

As a church, they have departed from the original faith on many issues....

I also don't agree with their point of view that Peter was the first pope. The Bible is very clear that James, not Peter, was head of the church in the first century......

There is one area where we owe the Roman Catholic Church a debt of gratitude: Because there were monks transcribing and writing the scriptures over the centuries, especially in the "dark ages", we have the Bible we have today. Remember there are plenty of places in the Bible where God used imperfect men (and women) to accomplish His will......In fact, I'm still imperfect, but I'm trying to please the Lord in every way I can. I make a lot of mistakes and I have to ask the Lord for forgiveness daily. Maybe since you were born and raised in a Pentecostal environment, you might not know just how precious it is to come in from the world and to experience a saving faith in the blood of Jesus like I do.........

OK, when you read the above, do you get the impression that my friend was a bit angry with me? I do. But what do we get from this outside of that? Well, in a part of his email, he ripped me up personally, tearing me to shreds - I didn't print that part of his letter, it was a bit too harsh. So, is he right? How do we deal with such things?

Well, his assessments of the Roman Catholic Church, as far as that's concerned, I agree with him. But to make a personal attack on John Paul II was out of line. His attack on me as a person was out of line too, and certainly not in conformance with what the Bible teaches us about our behaviour as Christians. Last time I checked, love and mercy trump judgement. Check out what the Bible says in James 2:12-13:

"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!"

Jesus had a few things to say about mercy, forgiveness, and being on the receiving end of insults, hurtful accusations, and evil conversation. Look at the Beatitudes, in Matthew chapter 5:

v.7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

vv.11-12: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

And I especially love Romans 8:1, where the Word of God gives me, a human who makes mistakes and errors, a break. Without the mercy of God, I would have no way possible to inherit eternal life, as I am imperfect and have a human nature that brings sin. The only sacrifice for sin is the blood of Jesus, and that blood covers me, because I trust Him as my saviour.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

You should read on, down through verse 4, to get the full impact of the idea.

What I am trying to say here, and probably didn't do such a good job of it, is that not one of us is fit to judge the heart of the other. God has sent Hisw Son, Jesus, to be the propitiation for our sins, and there is no way we can obtain forgiveness for our sins. None of us is perfect, and none of us has a magical ability to see into any other's heart. For that reason alone, it is not a good idea to call the pope or anyone else, the names which my friend did. Who can say that they know for sure what conversations had taken place between him and God, or who knows just what he thought or what God thought of him? A lot of Pentecostals have the flaw of judging others, calling themselves, "fruit inspectors," from the passage that says, "by their fruit shall you know them." But that's just taking on a bit too much responsibility if you ask me, and it requires more insight than I have, for sure!

In sending His Son to die on the cross for my sins, God has done for me what I could not do for myself: provided salvation and eternal life! Faith in Christ, and faith in Him alone, is the single requirement for eternal life. Anything we add, any requirement, or work, or sacrament, is extrabiblical and incorrect, and will not add one iota to our salvation. So friends, let us love one another with the love of Christ, let us live for Him, and let us allow God to make the decision as to who is or is not saved, and we will avoid a trap that will come back to bite us. And if you disagree with this, leave your comment at the end of the post, because I want to know what you think. But remember, the Bible is God's Word, and that alone is the arbiter of our faith.

Thank you, be sure to pray for me, and may God give you His blessings!

Joe Comer